Tails of Black and Gold
by Levity Lirum
Summary: Loosely inspired by Wagaya no Oinari-Sama. A council of foxes sends an unattached black fox to befriend, protect and raise little Naruto. Rather traditional take on kitsune myths and how they apply to a species-confused jinchuuraki.


**_Disclaimer: __I do not own Naruto,nor Japanese myth._**

Just a random plot that came upwhen I was watching 'Wagaya no Oinari-Sama' (Our Home's Fox Diety).

The character just poped out of no-where. It was like, in your face 'USE MEH!'. And while I admit that the speech patter was a bitch to write and get consistant, I'm pleased with how it worked out.

* * *

><p>A little boy was crying.<p>

In most cases, one of the passers by would had stopped to see what was the matter, but everyone recognised the distinctive gold of the resident jinchuuriki.

Including a pair of dark eyes that glowed with a golden aura, peering out of the shadows of the alleyway across the street.

After a time, the four-legged shadow materialised into a little boy the same age as the little jinchuuriki and approached the crying boy.

The new boy could have been easily mistaken for an Uchiha with his pale skin and black eyes and hair. His long hair was held up in a high pony tail which fell to his shoulders, two long bangs framing his sharp, pale face and huge black eyes. Plain ashy black yukata and hakama of what appeared to be cotton, but, to a trained eye, was in fact brushed silk, covered his slim body.

The dark-haired boy crouched next to the blond, arms wrapping around his knees and head tilted curiously.

"Why ya cryin'?" The dark boy asked in an odd accent not often heard in Fire Country, originating as it did from the tiny and semi-distant Land of Keys.

The little blond head snapped up in surprise, big blue eyes rimmed in red.

The child looked at the crouching boy for a moment before turning his gaze to the sheets of wrinkled paper next to him.

"I-I ca-can't do th-the -hiccup- homework-k. I can't r-read i-it good enough..."

The dark boy reached over and picked up the papers and smoothed them out, reading the printed kanji. That was the first clue that the paper was blatantly unfair.

It should have been written in easily-read hiragana for the blond boy's age range. More advanced children may -_may_- have known some katakana, but most kanji would be beyond them.

The second was that these things were generally not taught until the last year at the Academy as far as the dark boy knew. Granted, he had only been around the Jomae Village school when he was bored.

The dark boy's serious look disappeared when he looked back at the other, a wide, closed-eyed smile beaming from the pretty face.

"Ah c'n read this! Move ovah and Ah'll help ya."

The blond sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Re-really?"

The dark boy nodded cheerfully. "Hai! Ah'm Kana. What's yer name?"

"I'm Naruto." The blond murmured, looking at Kana oddly. "Isn't 'Kana' a girl's name?"

The smile became a little bit forced. "Do ya wan' meh to help ya or nah?"

Naruto pulled into himself a little. "Gomen, Kana-san."

Appeased, Kana leant close and began to explain the whats, hows and whys of the blatantly unfair homework.

**(space)**

After escorting the little blond back to his apartment with a promise to play the next afternoon, Kana padded quietly through the dark streets, scenting the air in an oddly canid fashion every so often.

Eventually coming to a wall, Kana tilted his head before momentarily melding into the shadows and emerging in a bigger, much different shape.

Even ignoring the black fur and gold markings, the five fluffy and boa-like tails, the black void fire that wreathed its body and the golden glow from its eyes, the fox was odd-looking. Its legs were almost double the length of the average fox and its neck longer, ears larger. Sharp black claws tipped relatively tiny paws.

It was elegant and graceful, standing as tall as a large dog but much slighter of build. A traveller from the Land of Keys would have tentatively identified it as a rare Stilted Grasslands Fox native to the grassy, boulder-sown hills around the Jomae Village, though they usually were of a greyish-brown colour.

Kana the kitsune leapt up and onto the wall, looked around and slunk through the grounds of the silk-weavers.

At the back of the grounds was a little pond and garden, currently lit up. A woman in a pink and blue kimono was embroidering little rainbow butterflies onto a soft purple silk sundress.

"Welcome, kitsune-san. I assume you have come for my Word?"

A young adult stood in the fox's place, appearing as an older version of the child who had helped Naruto earlier. As many maidens and youths around the Land of Keys could attest, he was very beautiful, and he both could and would use that beauty for seduction when the desire came upon him.

Now, however, Kana bowed deeply to the Kami of the Area.

"Hai. Ah'm currently called Kana, Kami-sama."

The woman tilted her head and smiled, hands still moving. "Kana; 'ka' for 'excellent, beautiful or good', and 'na' for 'Nara; what?'." The Kami's smiled wider. "It suits you. I am called Shigemi by my parishioners. I am a Kami of Prosperity and Art."

Shigemi tied off the butterfly she was embroidering and began a knew one. "Why have you come to my lands, Kana-kun? You should know that kitsune of any kind are unwelcome by the humans since that Kyuubi no Youko came through here."

"Aa." Kana acknowledged. "But weh worry fer thah child 'e was sealed into. Thah fox may 'ave been driven 'gainst Kitsune Law and inta madness by a 'ooman who learnt 'is name, but 'e was still one o' us. A council was called by Inari-dono and the Lady ta decided upon thah child. Watchers were sent, as ya likely already know."

Shigemi nodded assent. "They didn't stay long." She noted.

"Iie." Kana shook his head, long black hair fluttering in the night. "They did nah need ta and came back to report in in varyin' states o' distress. Despite bein' only a jinchuuriki, 'e registers as one o' us to our senses." Kana closed his eyes in something akin to pain. "It goes 'gainst everythin' we are ta leave one o' our kits ta suffer like this, so, as thah strongest ungrounded kitsune in this part of thah world, Ah came ta provide for and teach thah boy as best Ah can."

The woman nodded thoughtfully. "I have been meaning to do something the alleviate the hostility towards Uzumaki-kun, but haven't had the means." Shigemi tied off another butterfly and set down her work on a small table beside her, turning to face Kana. "I'll give you some land if you agree to do some things for me every so often while you're in my land. Agreed?"

"Aa." Kana replied easily.

Shigemi smiled in an uncomfortably predatory manner.

"Then my Word is this: The deepest Roots of this Village of Leaves are poisoned and diseased. Remove them before they bring blight to the Tree."

Kana bowed and left, a train of thought following him into the darkness...

'_Sonovabitch.'_

**(space)**

The next day, Kana explored the area Shigemi had given him.

It was perfect for him, he decided. There were a dozen or so partially overgrown condemned buildings that backed onto a fenced off area called 'Training Ground 44', as well as a few smaller unused grounds of varying terrain. There was a small, walled-off, and completely overgrown graveyard in the middle where he made his home.

There was a hole in the side of a crypt that he'd enlarged before spending much of the night clearing out the refuse and turning the room into a den.

Amazingly, half the houses that had been condemned had merely been left in a state of disrepair with their former owners dead, and were easy pickings for Kana to loot.

He kept most of the pretty shiny things like jewellery, silverware, crystal and money, but cleaned and pawned the rest. What clothing, bedding and such were scavenged went to lining his den. Weapons were wrapped in oiled cloth and packed away in the sarcophagus for later and any toys and children's clothing were set aside for Naruto.

The black fox poked hishead out of the den and sniffed the air, an eye regarding the positon of the sun.

He would have just enough time to get some food before going to meet Naruto.

**(space)**

A young, beautiful woman most people on the street mistook for an Uchiha sauntered down the side-street bazaar, a bag containing a mixed box of daifuku, two purchased lunch bentos, a small box of inari-zushi and two bottles of chilled green tea in one hand and reading a tourists pamphlet in the other.

Kana considered if it would be worth it to get a day-job at the Kin Onsen as a masseur, having had the hostess of the practically accost 'her' as she bought the afternoon tea.

It could be fun...

**(space)**

The little dark-haired boy swayed absently on the swing outside the Academy, waiting for his little blond responsibility to emerge, bag on the ground beside him.

It was only after all the other students had cleared off that Kana entered the Academy to look for the conspicuously absent blond.

He found Naruto in a classroom, dusting erasers under the smug eye of what Kana suspected might have been Naruto's chunin instructor. Naruto looked distraught.

Determined, Kana opened the sliding door. "Whatcha still doin' in 'ere, 'Ruto-kun? Class let out ages ago."

The instructor straightened up, covering his smug superiority with a kind, though patronising, teacher facade. "I'm sorry, but you will have to leave. Uzumaki is currently serving detention and cannot come out today, or for the rest of the week."

Naruto looked devastated and was holding in tears.

Kana looked at Naruto for a moment, thinking.

He tilted a looked back to the instructor. "What was thah offence? And 'ave 'is guardians or guardian bin informed? There're rules, doncha know."

The instructor drew himself up self-righteously. "He cheated on his homework and back-chatted to his instructor-"

Kana snorted rudely, interrupting the man. "Yah fulla it. Ah sat down and walked 'Ruto through the kanji and then thah 'omework, if thah's what yah call it. Ah call bullshit. Yah just dun like 'Ruto and are bein' petty and unfair." He sneered at the startled, red-faced ninja. "Ah alsah note yah didn't mention blondie's guardian, who, bein' an orphan, would be thah 'Okage."

The disguised kitsune made a rude, disgusted sound and crossed to Naruto, taking his hand. "C'mon, 'Ruto. Yah dun have tah take this bullshit."

Ignoring the Chunin, Kana pulled the sniffling blond out of the room, and the Academy, towards his home/den/sett in the graveyard, the bag of food in his other hand.

**(space)**

Late that night, while Naruto was warm and curled up asleep in Kana's den, belly full for the first time in who-knows-when, Kana sat on a high roof of one of his buildings, watching the frenzied ANBU scrambling to find the missing blond.

He had the oddest, rather smug, impression that that instructor would not be an instructor for much longer.

* * *

><p><em>Kana's an oddly like-able character, isn't he? For some reason, I keep feeling like I'm channelling the character of Autobot Jazz when I write Kana...<em>

_Meh, let me know what you think._

**Names**

As a Japanese female name, Kana may be written with the characters for "excellent; beautiful; good" (ka) and "Nara; what?" (na) - among other possibilities.

The Japanese name Shigemi may be written with the characters for "luxuriant; thick" (shige) and "beauty; beautiful" (mi). Other possibilities include "heavy; heap up" (shige) and "beauty; beautiful" (mi), as well as "luxuriant; nourishing" (shige) and "look; see" (mi).

**I haven't yet decided on which name I'll give Kana as his 'True Name'. So vote and if you have a good one, let me know what it is and what it means.**

The Japanese name Hisoka may be written with the character for "secrecy; carefulness". Other possibilities include "quiet" (hiso) and "incense; smell; perfume" (ka), as well as the character for "submerge; conceal; hide".

As a Japanese female name, Eri may be written with the characters for "favor; blessing; grace; kindness" (e) and "logic; reason; justice; truth" (ri). Other possibilities include "painting; picture" or "England; English" for 'e' and "village; parent's home" or "peer tree" for 'ri'.\


End file.
